Road Divides Residents, Developer

September 08, 1995|By KATHLEEN GORMAN; Courant Staff Writer

CANTON — Residents who live in or near the Sunrise Ridge subdivision off Lovely Street again voiced their opposition to a proposed new road in their neighborhood that would connect to a large Avon development.

Members of the planning commission listened Wednesday night to more than two hours of comments from residents during the third night of a public hearing on the controversial plan.

The board then concluded the public hearing and postponed discussion on the proposal until its next meeting Oct. 2.

The proposal by Village Developers is for six lots on a 9.7-acre parcel west of the cul-de-sac at the end of Queens Peak Road. But the six lots are not what is upsetting the neighbors, Town Planner Eric Barz said. Opposition to the plan has focused on the new road planned by the developer to connect Queens Peak Road with Kings Wood Road in Avon, he said.

Residents have said they are concerned about traffic problems that could occur because of the connection to Kings Wood Road. More than 100 houses are planned across the border in Avon, and that new road would become the preferred route from the large development, known as Kings Wood of Avon, to Route 44, they have said.

That would bring many more cars through Canton. A traffic study ordered by the commission showed that a connector road would triple the number of cars using Sunrise Ridge Road at peak hours. However, the study also said there would be no change in the length of time motorists would wait to turn onto or off Lovely Street at Sunrise Ridge.

Commission members have said that alternative road connections would direct most traffic through Collinsville, which already suffers from traffic problems. Residents of Collinsville also said Wednesday they don't want the extra traffic going through Canton's historic downtown.

The Kings Wood of Avon subdivision, also a project of Village Developers, totals 112 lots.

In July 1994, the Avon planning and zoning commission unanimously approved the first 20-lot phase of the subdivision. The development is expected to be built in five phases off Huckleberry Hill Road. The commission also voted to give the developer conditional approval for the second phase, which consists of 23 lots.

Subsequent phases of the Kings Wood project are expected to be developed during the next five years.

Residents of Avon and Canton attended public hearings on that project last summer and told the commission they were worried that the subdivision would create traffic problems.